{"id":7400,"date":"2021-09-12T09:06:57","date_gmt":"2021-09-12T09:06:57","guid":{"rendered":"\/blogs\/?p=7400"},"modified":"2021-09-13T12:45:39","modified_gmt":"2021-09-13T12:45:39","slug":"essential-life-skills-for-kids-to-succeed","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"\/blogs\/essential-life-skills-for-kids-to-succeed.html","title":{"rendered":"Essential Life Skills For Kids To Succeed"},"content":{"rendered":"

In this wide world, it is often simple to assume that people grow up with a certain set of core understandings…but that couldn\u2019t be further from the truth.\u00a0 Assuming that we all have a similar set of life skills that we apply on the daily is rash.\u00a0 Parents must model appropriate behavior and self-talk for their kids to pick up on how their parents learn. Then they can use those skills to mold and experiment with their own view of life.\u00a0 Life skills for kids are an essential part of development.<\/span><\/p>\n

What Are Life Skills?<\/span><\/h2>\n

Life Skills are abilities that are learned in order to support one in being a productive human being capable of taking their place in society.\u00a0 Learning how to learn is an essential skill<\/a> that parents can help to develop by modeling, self-narration, and conversation.<\/span><\/p>\n

Which Skills Are Essential for Kids?<\/span><\/h2>\n

\"life<\/a><\/p>\n

Focus<\/span><\/h3>\n

The ability to pay close attention to a task at hand is focus.\u00a0 This behavior must be modeled for kids amidst structure and clear rules.\u00a0 Kids thrive on structure and routine, so don\u2019t be afraid to set those boundaries.\u00a0 Give them ample opportunity to play by themselves with things like puzzles or coloring to learn to focus on their own without reminders.<\/span><\/p>\n

Self-Control<\/span><\/h3>\n

Knowing appropriate behavior and speech for any given situation and conducting yourself accordingly is self-control.\u00a0 This is another behavior that should be discussed and modeled by the adult, being sure to discuss clear expectations of what their behavior should look like in specific situations.\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Making Connections (Inference)<\/span><\/h3>\n

Opening the mind up to see patterns and less-than-obvious connections is an amazing skill to guide in your child.\u00a0 Something as simple as knowing which shoes to wear for an outing based on the location and the weather proves they are\u00a0 making connections.\u00a0 But digging deeper and making emotional connections based on body language and social cues expands this area.\u00a0 Talking aloud and wondering aloud are great ways to foster this skill.<\/span><\/p>\n

Perspective<\/span><\/h3>\n

This is the old \u201cseeing the world from another person\u2019s shoes\u201d adage.\u00a0 Kids must learn to think about the socio-emotional context of events and situations, and learn to respect and appreciate others for both their uniqueness and their differences.\u00a0 Parents can model this by \u201cthinking aloud,\u201d or talking about what he observes so the child can see the subtle social cues as well.\u00a0 For example, \u201cI noticed Grandpa was frowning as he worked in the garden today.\u00a0 How do you think he was feeling?\u00a0 Why do you think he felt that way?\u201d\u00a0 Then move a step beyond and see how you can be a part of the solution if there is a problem.\u00a0 Bring each situation full-circle if possible.<\/span><\/p>\n

Resilience<\/span><\/h3>\n

It\u2019s that never-give-up American attitude that keeps us going.\u00a0 Taking on challenges, learning from failure, and carrying on despite shows a positive attitude and a willingness to learn in this world.\u00a0 Encouraging kids to take risks but with the encouragement of a safe space or you nearby is key.\u00a0 Discuss what makes them feel safe and under what condition they might try again.\u00a0 Talk is key.\u00a0 Acknowledge difficulty as well – \u201cGosh, that was hard.\u00a0 I\u2019m glad you tried!\u201d\u00a0 It makes all the difference.<\/span><\/p>\n

Communication<\/span><\/h3>\n

Reading social cues and adjusting their behavior accordingly is called \u201ccode switching.\u201d\u00a0 Often we alter our behavior and speech patterns given the situation we are in.\u00a0 It\u2019s as simple as speaking slower and choosing specific topics when visiting a Nursing Home as opposed to being high energy and screaming to encourage teammates at a baseball game.\u00a0 Learning what communication is most effective in each situation is key.<\/span><\/p>\n

Critical Thinking<\/span><\/h3>\n

Most people wouldn\u2019t associate open-ended play with critical thinking, but that is exactly what kids need.\u00a0 Putting themselves into role-play in real world situations and letting them make mistakes and learn in play builds incredible confidence.\u00a0 It also helps to let them experience as much of the world as possible so they can work through those experiences and apply them to their own life.<\/span><\/p>\n

Curiosity<\/span><\/h3>\n

Say yes.\u00a0 It\u2019s often as simple as that.\u00a0 Let them make the mess.\u00a0 Let them climb the tree.\u00a0 Let them prove their hypothesis.\u00a0 The clean up is worth it in the end.\u00a0 The other side of this is to NOT answer all of their questions.\u00a0 A good \u201cHmmm, I don\u2019t know, but let\u2019s find out!\u201d goes miles with kids.\u00a0 It shows that parents don\u2019t know everything but are willing to help them find the truth.\u00a0 Encourage them to get into things, whether in nature, artistically, or exploring the world.<\/span><\/p>\n

Bottom line is to continue to model and be the example for your child.\u00a0 They see what you do and how you react, so it\u2019s up to you to set the guidelines, the expectations, and the limits of exploration.\u00a0 Let them go wild with curiosity, allowing them to experience what life has to offer and talking them through each situation for meaning and reason.<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

In this wide world, it is often simple to assume that people grow up with a certain set of core understandings…but that couldn\u2019t be further from the truth.\u00a0 Assuming that we all have a similar set of life skills that we apply on the daily is rash.\u00a0 Parents must model appropriate behavior and self-talk for…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":7402,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[71],"tags":[279,278,277],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/wp.turtlediary.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/09\/kids-skills.jpg","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.turtlediary.com\/blogs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7400"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.turtlediary.com\/blogs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.turtlediary.com\/blogs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.turtlediary.com\/blogs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.turtlediary.com\/blogs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=7400"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/www.turtlediary.com\/blogs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7400\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":7408,"href":"https:\/\/www.turtlediary.com\/blogs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7400\/revisions\/7408"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.turtlediary.com\/blogs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/7402"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.turtlediary.com\/blogs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=7400"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.turtlediary.com\/blogs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=7400"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.turtlediary.com\/blogs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=7400"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}